Susan Lafferty“Hmm,” my college art teacher says. Then again, “Hmmmm.”
She’s looking over my shoulder. At the simple drawing. Graphite lines. Bare bones to plan and guide the assigned painting.
“Bigger. Go big!” She says. With increasing volume. Her arms flying out for emphasis. “Stretch it out. Go biiiig.”
The startling command contrasts with my small, neat pencil sketch. So confined and contained.
We’ve lived in places of extraordinary beauty. The spectacular so commonplace in my daily view that I forget what I have. Right in front of me.
Then there are the other places. The hard, trashed out, desert places. No electricity on the hottest days. Water shortages. Just plain, hard living.
I forget in those settings too. Forget to look for the beauty.
In my last post, I shared part of that journey to find it even in the unlikely places.
And through a variety of countries and cultures along the way, I’ve learned a few simple things.
“Lord, you are my portion and my cup of blessing; You hold my future. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance” (Psalm 16:5-6).
Beauty? Our first year of living in Karachi, my eyes saw the sand and dirt. Trash along the roads. The walls and buildings that matched the browns of a desert landscape.
Nothing seemed pleasant. Or beautiful.
I decided “pleasant places” must refer to the believer’s spiritual condition. Certainly not physical surroundings. Not this desert megacity, anyway.